Lawmaker proposes to scrap full-fare ad rule

A new proposal would end a
federal requirement that airlines, packagers and travel agents post total
ticket prices, including taxes and fees, in print and online advertising.

The proposal was submitted
by Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) as an amendment to the broader FAA
reauthorization bill, called the AIRR Act, that the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee is considering. It would reverse rules put into place
by the Department of Transportation in 2012 that require full fare quotes.

Under the Curbelo
amendment, airlines would be able to post base fares in advertisements and on
websites. Posting only the pre-tax fare would not, under the law, “be an unfair
or deceptive practice,” the amendment says, as long as taxes, fees and the
total cost are separately disclosed. In the case of websites, taxes, fees and
the total fare could be disclosed through a link or pop-up.

The rule would apply not
only to airlines, but to those selling air, such as travel agents and tour
operators.

A similar proposal put
forward in 2014 by Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) was
unsuccessful. (Shuster and DeFazio are the chairman and ranking member,
respectively, of the transportation committee). The trade group Airlines For
America praised that bill when it was introduced, saying that the existing
rules enable the government to hide how much it taxes air travel.

In a statement Wednesday,
the Business Travel Coalition decried the Curbelo amendment as a gift to
airlines. The legislation, the coalition said, would “undermine a critically
important consumer protection that was adopted as a cure to airline
bait-and-switch advertising.”